A political mailer referencing Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan is circulating in Virginia ahead of the April 21 redistricting referendum, prompting criticism from state lawmakers and members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. The mailer urges voters to oppose the...
Richmond's mayoral election is more like nine mini-elections, making the path to victory complicated for both incumbent Mayor Levar Stoney and his four challengers. Rich Meagher breaks it down for us. As Richmond’s mayoral race heats up, it’s worth remembering that this is more than just an election. For incumbent Levar Stoney and his four...
Based on the numbers from Virginia's first week of early voting, it certainly seems like turnout will be up in the Commonwealth this year. Virginia voting is off to an active start, with tens of thousands of people hitting the polls during the 45-day early voting period. Over 164,000 citizens have voted in person, while more than 926,000...
On Tuesday, November 3, you'll have a chance to vote on the way Virginia handles redistricting for the next ten years and beyond. Should you vote yes or no? That depends on who you ask. A single question on the 2020 electoral ballot will decide the fate of the Virginia redistricting system, and determine how voting districts are drawn for the...
People incarcerated at Richmond City Justice Center say a recent tear-gassing by law enforcement endangered their lives. On August 29th, Tobias Hill was sitting in his cell at the Richmond City Justice Center (RCJC) when the gas began to creep beneath the door. He didn't know what was happening outside, but as the tear gas burned his eyes and...
Biden shows a strong lead over Trump in Virginia, and Senator Mark Warner is on track for re-election, but mail-in voting remains a more divisive issue, split largely along party lines. A poll released this week by the Virginia Commonwealth University L. Douglas Wilder School of Government shows presidential candidate Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Mark...
At Marcus-David Peters Circle this summer, a small library popped up during protests to educate the public about liberating the working class, queer people, and people of color. Now located in Chimborazo Park, its organizers continue engaging the community with educational activism. In the 100 days (and counting) of protests against police...
On Saturday, a crowd cheered as the “At Ready” Confederate statue was removed from its place of prominence at the Albemarle County Courthouse near Charlottesville. The August 2017 events in Charlottesville were the catalyst for the removal of Confederate monuments around the country, but the area had yet to see any of its own monuments removed —...
In Prince William County, ICE agents that are visually indistinguishable from local police have been arresting undocumented immigrants. For activists and local elected officials, this comes across as an unjust abuse of power. Standing on a NoVA sidewalk in his Lady Gaga t-shirt on a hot afternoon, Josh Ayala told a small crowd about how ICE...
At such a time that a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, should Virginians be required to get it? The state's health commissioner thinks so; some General Assembly members disagree. Though the federal government is asking states to prepare for the possibility of a COVID-19 vaccine within months, some Virginians differ on whether the vaccine...
